Plank driving head



Oct. 24, 1961 J. SPICKARD PLANK DRIVING HEAD 2 n 7 H 2 a w y M w m INVENTOR Lawrence J. Sp/c/rara ATTORNEY t es This invention relates to plank driving tools and more especially to plank end shielding'heads which receive driving blows and transmit these blows to the plank as an incident to the plank being driven lengthwise into the earth by suitable driving means.

An object of this invention is the provision of a practical and reliable plank shielding head which may be readily and securely attached to the end of a plank of such varieties as are known for sheet metal piling, irrigation walls or water'impounding or for earth shoring, which head efi'ectively protects the plank end from direct contact with a hammer, pile driver or other driving means being employed for driving the plank into the earth, and which head is easily removed from the plank after the driving operation has been discontinued.

Another object is the provision of a driving head of the character indicated which with a minimum of effort can be properly allocated on the plank end then stays in that position until removed by a simple manipulation.

A further object is the provision of a driving head of the character indicated which automatically locks itself in the proper position on the plank end and until then may readily be manipulated toward that position.

Other objects in part will be obvious and in part pointed out more fully hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the several components and combinations thereof as well as in the features of the products resulting, and in the relation of each of the same to one or more of the others as described herein, the scope of the application of which is indicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing representing embodiments of the present invention:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric representation of a driving head;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section taken at AA in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 represents in transversesection a somewhat modified form of driving head; and

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section of a further modification, the view being taken of a driving head much in the same manner as the sections of heads represented by FIGURES 2 and 3.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of certain features of the present invention it may be noted at this point that planks made of steel, wood or of other suitable material are in demand for any of a variety of uses which depend first upon the planks being driven lengthwise into the earth for a distance which assures that'they will stay in place for the purpose intended. Fora number of structural engineering uses planks are assembled to produce substantially vertical walls. Assembly is achieved by driving the planks side by side in sequence until a wall having a desired transverse'dimension is obtained. Often for this purpose planks having tongue and groove edges lengthwise of the planks are driven to make up the wall and the sequential driving is done so that the tongues and grooves of the adjacent planks are interengaged to prevent lateral separation of the planks when they are finally assembled. A typical example of planks even of the latter kind will be found described and illustrated in my co-pending application Serial Number and Plank Assemblies, now abandoned and superseded by my co-pending application Serial Number 5,265, filed atent as a continuation-in-part January 28, 1960, and entitled,

Irrigation Gate Wall.

In driving planks into the earth it is conventional practice to apply impact repeatedly to the upper end of each plank, using a power operated hammer or even sometimes a manually wielded sledge. When the hammer blows are directly applied to the unshielded plank edge, the edge too readily becomes marred and battered by the sequence of blows and thus the plank sometimes is to-. tally ruined for the immediate use. Planks, too, are driven to form temporary structures and then later are extracted from the earth and driven again at a new location. Repeated driving of course makes it all the more important to shield the top ends of the planks from the hammer blows. Although shielding heretofore has been practiced for this purpose, the shields have been open to many objections including the fact that they are difficult to mount properly on the planks. The fastening means frequently requires wrenches or in some other manner makes it necessary that a great amount of force be exerted before being operative to secure the shield in desired position on the plank end. Even so, some of the fastenings have been susceptible to loosening and freeing the shield under repeated impact. Other shields have been troublesome to remove after use.

An outstanding object of this invention accordingly is the provision of a plank end shield or driving head which very satisfactorily protects the plank against the marring effect of repeated hammer blows, which is easy to install on the end of the plank and remove from the plank and yet is highly resistant to loosening under impact and vibrations brought about by hammering.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of this invention represented by FIGURES'J and 2 of the accompanying drawing, a substantially U-shaped driving head 10 is provided having an anvil portion 11 and de pending legs 12 and 13 which define a groove 14 between themselves and with the anvil, the groove terminating'at the underface 11b of the anvil. Groove 14 has a width which is slightly greater than the thickness of the web of the plank 15 which is to be driven, accordingly to receive the top end of the plank to the extent that underface 11b of the anvil seats on the corresponding top edge of the plank. Top face 11a of the anvil is the face of head 10 which is repeatedly struck by a hammer (not shown) for driving the plank into the earth. The length of groove 14 may in certain instances be equal to or greater than the width of the plank or the plank web, and should at least be long enough for the underface 11b of the anvil to have a considerable area of force distribution as applied to the plank end. Legs 12 and 13 conveniently are in the form of flat plate extensions of the anvil 11, the plates being spaced from each other and substantially parallel. I

Leg 13 of the driving head is shorter in vertical extent than leg 12 and the latter supports a fastening device 16 which includes a spring biased movable componentrfor securing the head 10 to the plank. Further the movable component is retractive against the spring bias to displace the movable component from holding position with respect to the head 10. In the embodiment now being described the movable component is in the form of a pin 18 which slides through an aperture 19 in the leg 12 of the head, the aperture being below the lower end of leg 13 and the pin entering the aperture substantially normal to leg 12. Mounted to the outside face of leg 12 is a guide 20 for pin 18 and the guide includes an outside end portion 21 having an aperture 22 aligned with aperture 19 through which the pin extends. The outer end of the pin is provided with a retracting component 23 which which for example is in the form of a key head which can be manually grasped to exert an outward pull PatentedOct. 24, 1961.

on the pin. Opening 24 in the key head conveniently permits fastening a rope or the like to pin 13 so that an outward pull can be applied to the pin from a remote point by tugging the rope. A helical spring 25 is disposedaround the intermediate portion of pin 18, and this spring at one end seats against the inside face of end portion 21 of guide 20-. Theopposite end of the spring conveniently is supported'by a stop 27 extending through a transverse bore inthe body of pin. 1%. Thus, spring 25 is held in compression and accordingly biases pin 18 toward the plank and resists retraction of the pin until the biasing force of the spring is overcome by external force favoring retraction. End 13a of the pin can be extended appreciably beyond the inside face of leg 12 by spring 25 and so can take a restraining position with respect to the plank and thus hold head in proper position on the plank end. At least one of the legs 12 and 13 of the driving head 10 advantageously has a notch beginning at its outer edge and extending all the way to the underface 11b of anvil 11 to accommodate planks which in transverse section show angular webs. For example, a notch 26 is provided in leg 13 and accordingly planks such as those having a T-section can be received in head 10 for driving.

In driving planks having an aperture 28 through the web some distance below the top end of the plank, the pin 18 advantageously is correlated with this aperture so as to achieve an interlock against escape of the driving head from proper position on the plank end. Thus by disposing aperture 28 in proper position along the width of the plank Web and a distance down from the top end of the plank which is equal to the distance of pin 18 from the underface 11b of anvil 11 the pin will register with the aperture when the driving head is seated on the plank. Moreover, aperture 28, being properly positioned, then assures proper driving position of head 10. Pin 18 interlocks the head and plank by extending into aperture 28 under the bias of spring 25 until the plank has been driven by hammer blows applied to anvil top surface 11a. A retractive force applied to retracting component 23 of the pin then can be made to move end 18a of pin 18 out of aperture 28 in the plank and the driving head can thereafter be, lifted free of the plank.

The particular arrangement described lends itself to easy assembly to a plank end. Leg 113 being shorter than leg 12 leaves the end 18a of pin 18 exposed so that the head may be pressed sidewise against the web of the plank until pin 18 is flush with the inner face of leg 12 by the pressing action. At this point a downward push exerted on head 10 causes the top end of the plank to enter groove 14 until the underface 11b of the anvil is reached. Then, by sliding head 19 along the top end of the plank pin 18 comes into register with aperture 28 and enters this aperture under the bias of spring 25. This interlock accordingly is sustained until pin 18 is intentionally retracted.

In the somewhat modified embodiment represented in FIGURE 3 at least one of the legs 12 and 13 of head 10 is movable with respect to anvil 11 so that the width of groove 14 may be adjusted to accept planks having any of a variety of web thicknesses. Accordingly, in FIGURE 3, leg 13 is detachably secured by screws 30 to the corresponding side of anvil 11, there being a marginal inset 11c in the side of the anvil to accommodate this and shims 31 of any of a number of thicknesses are introduced between the leg and the corresponding anvil side to alter the width of groove 14 to the dimension desired.

In FIGURE 4 the driving head is modified, still in accordance with the present invention, to the extent that both legs which depend from the anvil are substantially of equal length. A detent supported on one of the legs of the driving head includes a pin 35 which is biased into the plank web receiving groove 36 by a leaf spring 37 having its end 37a secured to the pin and its other end 37b fastened by screws 38 to the corresponding leg of the driving head. A retractor 39 in the form of a key head has an aperture 40 for a pull rope. Accordingly the pin 35 may be retracted from the driving head groove either by manually grasping the key head and pulling outward against the leaf spring bias, or the rope or other coupling may enable this to be achieved from some remote point. The inner end 35a of pin 35 advantageously has a cam face which co-acts with the top end of a plank 42 when the driving head is initially receiving the plank in groove 36, thus for the plank end to shove pin 35 outward and allow the anvil of the driving head to seat on the top end of the plank. By having a cam face of the character mentioned, pin 35 requires no externally applied pull to allow the plank to enter groove 36. The pin instead is automatically retracted by the plank itself and will return under the bias of spring 37 to latch into a registered opening 42a in the plank. If desired the driving head is secured to a frame 45 which supports the cylinder of a power operated hammer and the piston and head of the hammer (not shown) accordingly aligned with the anvil of the driving head.

Thus it will be seen that with this invention, the various objects hereinbefore noted together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. It will be noted that the driving head in having a spring biased detent is readily assembled with planks which are to be driven lengthwise into the earth and that either by having the bias of the spring strong enough the head is retained in place during the plank driving operation or even a weak bias is tolerated when the detent is registered with an opening in the plank prior to driving.

As many possible embodiments of the invention may be made and as many changes may be made in the embodiments hereinbefore set forth, it will be distinctly understood that all matter described herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not as a limitation.

I claim:

1. A driving head adapted to be used for transmitting driving force to the top end of a plank having a side opening in the body thereof near the top end, said head comprising an anvil portion having an under face and legs depending from said anvil portion, said anvil portion and legs forming a groove with each other adapted to receive the top end of the plank to said under face of the anvil portion, one of said legs supporting a movable detent having means biasing said detent to a position where said detent is in the path of the plank into said groove and is operable away from the path as said driving head is bodily moved onto the plank against the bias of said biasing means, to a position of the detent where the detent engages the side of the plank and is out of the path, said detent being the same distance from the under face of said anvil portion as the opening in said plank is from the top end of the plank and being adapted to ride against said plank under the bias of said biasing means when the plank is in said groove, and said detent being forcefully projected into the opening in said plank by said biasing means when said detent and opening are aligned through having the plank received in said groove and said under face of the anvil portion seated on and properly disposed along the top end of the plank, thus securing the driving head and plank together as a unitary structure for the driving head to transmit driving force from the under face of said anvil portion to the top end of the plank.

2. A driving head adapted to be used for transmitting driving force to the top end of a plank having a side opening in the body thereof near the top end, said 'head comprising an anvil portion having an under face and legs depending from said anvil portion, said anvil portion and legs forming a groove with each other adapted to receive the top end of the plank to said under face of the anvil portion, one of said legs extending beyond the other of said legs and supporting a movable detent having" biasing means, said headbe'ing open to receive the plank laterally under said other of said legs to the detent, and said detent being below said other of said legs outside said groove and biased by said biasing means to a position where said detent is in the path of the plank into the groove and is operable away from the path as said driving head is bodily moved onto the plank against the bias of said biasing means, to a position of the detent where said detent engages the side of the plank and is out of the path, said detent being the same distance from the under face of said anvil portion as the opening in said plank is from the top end of the plank and being adapted to ride against said plank under the bias of said biasing means when said plank is in the groove, and said detent being forcefully projected into the opening in said plank by said biasing means when said detent and opening become aligned through having said under face of the anvil portion seated on and properly disposed along the top end of the plank, thus securing the driving head and plank together as a unitary structure for the driving head to transmit driving force from the under face of said anvil portion to the top end of the plank.

3. A driving head adapted to be used for transmitting driving force to the top end of a plank having a side opening in the body thereof near the top end, said head comprising an anvil portion having an under face and legs depending from said anvil portion, said anvil portion and legs forming a groove with each other adapted to receive the top end of the plank to said under face of the anvil portion, one of said legs being longer than the other and the longer of said legs supporting a fastening device including an axially movable pin extending transversely of the supporting leg and having means biasing said pin, said driving head being open to receive the plank laterally under said other of said legs to the pin, and said pin being below said other of said legs outside said groove and biased by said biasing means to a position where said pin is in the path of the plank into said groove and is operable axially away from the path as said driving head is bodily moved onto the plank against the bias of said biasing means, to a position of the pin where said pin engages the side of the plank and is out of the path, said pin being the same distance from the under face of said anvil portion as the opening in said plank is from the top end of the plank and being adapted to ride against said plank under the bias of said biasing means when the plank is in said groove, said pin being forcefully projected into the opening of said plank by said biasing means when said pin and opening become aligned through having the plank received in said groove and said under face of the anvil portion seated on and properly disposed along the top end of the plank, thus securing the driving head and plank together as a unitary structure for the driving head to transmit driving force from the under face of said anvil portion to the top end of the plank, and said fastening device including a retracting component adapting said pin to be retracted against the bias of said biasing means from the opening in said plank, whereby said driving head is released and can be removed from the plank.

4. A driving head adapted to be used for transmitting driving force to the top end of a plank having a side opening in the body thereof near the top end, said head comprising an anvil portion having an under face and legs depending from said anvil portion, said anvil portion and legs forming a groove with each other adapted to receive the top end of the plank to said under face of the anvil portion, one of said legs supporting a movable detent having a cam face means biasing said detent to a position where said cam face is inside said groove in the path of the plank into said groove and said detent is operable away from the path as said driving head is bodily moved onto the plank against the bias of said biasing means with said cam face contacting the plank, to a position of the detent where the detent engages the side of the plank and is out of the path, said detent being the same distance from the under face of said anvil portion as the opening in said plank is from the top end of the plank and being adapted to ride against saidplank under the bias of said biasing means when the plank is in said groove, and said detent being forcefully projected into the opening in said plank by said biasing means when said detent and opening are aligned through having the plank received in said groove and said under face of the anvil portion seated on and properly disposed along the top end of the plank, thus securing the driving head and plank together as a unitary structure for the driving head to transmit driving force from the under face of said anvil portion to the top end of the plank.

5. A driving head adapted to be used for transmitting driving force to the top end of a plank having a side opening in the body thereof near the top end, said head comprising an anvil portion having an under face and legs depending from said anvil portion, said anvil portion and legs forming a groove with each other adapted to receive the top end of the plank to said under face of the anvil portion, one of said legs supporting a fastening device including an axially movable pin above the ends of both of said legs and extending transversely of the supporting leg, said pin having a cam face, and spring means for biasing said pin to a position Where said cam face is disposed in said groove in the path of the plank into the groove, and said pin being operable to a position where said pin engages the side of the plank and is away from the path as said driving head is bodily moved onto the plank against the bias of said spring means with the cam face of the pin against the edge of the plank, said pin being the same distance from the under face of said anvil portion as the opening in said plank is from the top end of said plank and being adapted to ride against said plank under the bias of said spring means when the plank is in said groove, said pin being forcefully projected into the opening of said plank by said spring means when said pin and opening become aligned through having the plank received in said groove and said under face of the anvil portion seated on and properly disposed on the top end of the plank, thus securing the driving head and plank together as a unitary structure for the driving head to transmit driving force from the under face of said anvil portion to the top end of the plank, and said pin having a retracting component adapting said pin to be retracted against the bias of said biasing means from the opening in said plank, whereby said head is released and can be removed from the plank.

6. A driving head for a plank as set forth in claim 1, in which one of said legs and said anvil portion have a fastening whereby said one of said legs is secured to said anvil portion away from the other of said legs, and said driving head includes a removable shim between said one of said legs and the anvil portion and sustained in place by said fastening to contribute to the width of said groove and to reduce the width of said groove when removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 12,718 Bern Nov. 12, 1907 472,523 Chain Apr. 12, 1892 694,398 Maas Mar. 4, 1902 1,454,927 Hopson May 15, 1923 1,519,908 Etue Dec. 16, 1924 1,798,753 Paque Mar. 31, 1931 1,847,135 Oldham Mar. 1, 1932 2,042,273 Okum May 26, 1936 (Other references on following page) 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS Greulich Ian. 16, 1940 Collyer Apr. 4, 1944 Wessig Oct. 31, 1950 Lafiaille Feb. 6, 1951 Pink Nov. 13, 1951 Van Pelt Nov. 13, 1951 8 Westerfors Mar. 2, 195.4 Hill l "De1c.' 4, 1956 Seals V Dec. 3, 1957.

FOREIGN PATENTS Netherlands Jung 15, 1944 Great Britain Oct. 15, 1952' 

